US markets advanced overnight after the Fed chairman Jerome Powell stated that policymakers want to see more progress on inflation ahead of a decision to lower rates. US May CPI data also showed inflation continuing to cool, which lifted the market’s expectations that the Federal Reserve will pivo to rate cuts as early as September.

It was a strong session on Wall Street with the S&P500 gained 0.85%, closing above 5,400 for the first time. The Nasdaq also hit an all-time high, up 1.53%, while the Dow Jones was the outlier, closing down slightly by 0.09%.

What to watch today:

• Following US markets, the SPI futures are suggesting the Australian market will rise 0.67% at the open this morning.
• In economic data, Westpac’s consumer confidence data for June is out at 11:30am today and the unemployment rate for May is out at 12:30pm AEST, forecast to rise to 4.2%.
• In commodities,
  • Oil is up 0.65% to US$78.40 per barrel, due up an unexpected increase in US crude stocks. So keep watch of ASX listed energy producers today.
  • Gold is also in the green at US$2,322.76 per ounce.
  • And iron ore is down more than 1% at US$106.27 per tonne, the lowest in two months, due to pessimistic demand expectations for China.

Trading Ideas:

• Trading Central have identified a bullish signal in Regis Healthcare (ASX:REG) indicating that the stock price may rise from the close of $4.09 to the range of $4.37 to $4.47 over 43 days, according to the standard principles of technical analysis.
• Meanwhile Trading Central is bearish on South32 (ASX:S32), indicating that the stock price may fall from the close of $3.64.